
Class ,M Vi7g6 
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OFFICIAL DONATION. 



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EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 



[S. 4038, Fifty-seventh Congress, first session.] 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES, 
i 

February 19, 1902. — Mr. Mason introduced the following bill; which was read twice 
and* referred to the Committee on Education and Labor. 

A BILL To provide for the education of the blind, and so forth. 

Be it enacted by tke Senate and House of Representatives of the United 
States of America in Congress assembled, That the national commission 
for the education of the blind is herelry created a body corporate and 
politic, with perpetual succession, and with power to take, hold, enjoy, 
and convey lands, tenements, hereditaments, and personal property; 
to receive all donations and appropriations of money or property made 
for the purpose of promoting the education or general welfare of the 
blind, and to discharge the trust thereby imposed; to make contracts; 
to sue and be sued; to plead and be impleaded, and to have and use a 
common seal and to alter the same at pleasure. But no real or per- 
sonal propert}^ shall be held by the corporation except such as may be 
neeessaiy to the discharge of the purposes of its creation. 

Sec. 2. That the said commission shall consist of three members, who 
shall be appointed by the President of the United States, by and with 
the advice and consent of the Senate, one of whom shall be appointed 
to serve for the term of six years, one for the term of four years, and 
one for the term of two years, and their successors shall be each 
appointed to serve for the term of six years, respectively: Provided, 
That not more than one of said commissioners shall be appointed from 
the same State or Territory: Provided further, That not more than 
two of said commissioners shall belong to the same political party: 
Provided further, That one of said commissioners shall be a blind 
person. 

Sec. 3. That the President shall have power to remove any com- 
missioner for inefficiency or other good or sufficient cause, and any 
vacancy occurring from death, removal, or otherwise shall be filled for 
the remainder of the unexpired term in the same manner as prescribed 
in the second section of this act: but if the Senate be not in session 
when such vacancy occurs the President shall fill such vacancy, subject, 
however, to the approval of the Senate at its next regular session. 

Sec. -L That this commission shall have full charge of the education 
of nil blind residents of the District of Columbia and of the several Ter- 
ritories of the United States, and shall afford to all such blind persons 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 






of suitable age and physical and mental condition for receiving instrue- 
tion a good common-school education, and to such of said persons as 
shall manifest a capachvv for higher education a complete course of col- 
lege or university education, including music, law, medicine, and such 
other branches of learning as shall, in the opinion of the commission, 
serve to fit such students to pursue any remunerative calling or pro- 
fession. All the expenses of affording the education herein provided 
for, including tuition fees, support of students, and so forth, shall be 
defrayed out of the moneys appropriated for the use of this commis- 
sion. Blind persons residing in the several States shall be afforded 
the same advantages of acquiring a higher education by this commis- 
sion as are herein provided for residents of the District of Columbia 
and the Territories of the United States, and the costs of tuition of 
such student shall be paid by the commission, together with so much 
of the expense of their support when indigent and while attending 
college or other institution of higher learning as shall be authorized 
by this commission. 

Sec. 5. That the education provided for in this act shall be afforded 
by placing children in such primary schools as this commission shall 
deem most desirable, and by enabling students to attend such univer- 
sities, colleges, conservatories, or other institutions as the student may 
select: Provided, That this commission shall be satisfied that the insti- 
tution so selected will be best calculated to fit such student for the 
vocation he or she desires to follow. 

Sec. 6. That the commission, shall have power to charge a reason- 
able compensation for the education of all students who shall apply for 
education under its supervision and assistance who are able and willing 
to pa}' for their education: Provided, That the compensation so charged 
shall not exceed the amount paid out on account of said student by this 
commission plus a reasonable charge for the use of books, apparatus, 
and so forth. 

Sec. 7. That the commissioners shall annually elect one of their own 
number to be president of the commission, and shall appoint some per- 
son not a member of the commission to be secretary of the commission. 

Sec. 8. That the commission shall have power to appoint such other 
officers-, agents, or employees as may be necessary to the successful 
discharge of its mission, to define their duties, to fix their compensa- 
tion, to remove and discharge them whenever in its judgment the wel- 
fare of the service demands, and to make all necessary by-laws, rules, 
and regulations for the reception, management, supervision, or control 
of students, and to purchase such appliances, books, and so forth, as 
may be necessary in its work of education. 

Sec. 9. That the commissioners shall hold regular stated meetings, 
at least one in every three months, at such times as they may appoint, 
and called meetings at the request of two of their number. A majority 
of the commissioners shall constitute a quorum to do business. 

Sec. 10. That the commissioners shall each receive as compensation 
for his services the sum of five dollars per day for the time, not to 
exceed forty days in any one year, actually and necessarily occupied 
by him in the discharge of his official duties, which sums, together 
with the actual expenses of each of them while engaged in the per- 
formance of the duties of his office, shall be audited by the commission 
and paid out of the funds of the commission. 

Sec. 11. That this commission shall be entitled to receive books, 



•*• « 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 3 

apparatus, and so forth, from the American Printing House for the 
Blind, in proportion to the number of students receiving instruction 
under its direction, on the same terms and conditions, and to share in 
the benefits^of the appropriation made in aid of said American Print- 
ing House, in the same manner as other public institutions for the 
education of the blind. 

Sec. 12. That it shall be the duty of the secretary of the commission 
to attend all meetings of the commission; to prepare and preserve 
minutes of the proceedings thereof; to collect and compile such statis- 
tics and general information concerning the blind as this commission 
shall direct; to receive the applications of students and to inquire into 
their fitness and capabilities for receiving instruction; to arrange for 
their admission to colleges or other institutions on such terms and in 
such manner as may be prescribed and approved by this commission; 
to arrange for the employment of readers or other assistants when 
directed by the commission; to visit colleges and other institutions in 
which students in charge of the commission are or may be in attendance 
whenever it may seem necessaiy or desirable so to do; to keep a cor- 
rect list of all students receiving education under the supervision of the 
commission, and require from each of them a monthly statement of his 
progress, and such other information as the commission may require; 
to keep a correct account of all financial transactions of the commis- 
sion, and to discharge such other duties as the commission may pre 
scribe. The secretary shall receive a compensation to be, fixed by the 
commission, together with his necessary traveling expenses. 

Sec. 13. That the secretary shall be the responsible disbursing 
officer of this commission, and he shall, before entering upon the 
duties of his office, give a bond, payable to the United States in such 
amounts, in such form, and with such sureties as this commission and 
the Secretary of the Treasury may require, and conditioned for the 
faithful performance of the duties of his office, which bond shall be 
filed in the office of the Secretary of the Interior. 

Sec. 11. That the commission shall establish its office at Washington, 
or at some other convenient point, which shall be in charge of its 
secretaiy and which shall be at all times open to the public. 

Sec. 15. That it shall be the duty of this commission to report to 
the Secretary of the Interior the condition and extent of its work on 
the first day of July in each year, embracing in the report the num- 
ber of pupils of each description received and discharged during the 
preceding year and the number remaining in charge of the commis- 
sion; also the branches of knowledge and industry taught and the 
progress made therein; the names of the institutions in which such 
studies were taught, and the number of students placed in each; also 
a statement showing the receipts of the commission and from what 
sources received, and its disbursements, and for what objects expended. 

Sec. 16. That the secretaiy of this commission shall, at the com- 
mencement of every December session of Congress, make a full and 
complete statement of all the expenditures made by virtue of any 
appropriations by Congress. 

Sec. IT. That all appropriations of money by Congress for the use 
of this commission shall be drawn from the Treasury on the requisition 
of the Secretary of the Interior in such sums as this commission shall 
from time to time order, which order shall be signed by the president 
and secretary of this commission and attested b^v its official seal, which 



4 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 

sums shall be disbursed and accounted for in all respects according to 
the laws regulating ordinary disbursements of public rnone}\ 

Sec. 18. That the sum of seventy -five thousand dollars is hereby 
appropriated for the use of this commission and for the purposes here- 
inbefore stated, which sum shall be drawn from the Treasury as 
required by this commission, in the manner hereinbefore provided. 

Sec. 19. That all acts or parts of acts in conflict with the provisions 
of this act are hereby repealed. 



Committee ox Education and Labor. 

United States Senate, 
Washington, D. 0. b Tuesday, May SO, 1902, 

The committee met at 11 o'clock, a. m. 

Present: Senators McComas (chairman), Clapp. and Gibson. 
Present, also, Rev. H. N. Couden, Chaplain of the House of Repre- 
sentatives; Miss Etta J. Giffin, of the Library of Congress, and others. 

STATEMENT OF REV. H. N. COUDEN, CHAPLAIN OF THE HOUSE 
OF REPRESENTATIVES. 

The Chairman. Will you please state your full name and official 
position, Chaplain? 

Dr. Couden. Henry N. Couden; Chaplain of the House of Repre- 
sentatives. 

; The Chairman. You are familiar with this bill introduced by Senator 
Mason ? 

Dr. Couden. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. The committee will be glad to hear you on this sub- 
ject in your own way. 

Dr. Couden. Mr. Chairman and gentlemen. I can not hope to 
enlighten you very much as to the merits of this bill. I think it 
speaks v for itself. I only hope to emphasize the necessity and justice 
of the bill. 

The intelligent blind people all over the United States, with a 
marked spontaneity, have come forward demanding more education. 
They feel that the education they are now receiving is not at all ade- 
quate; that is, it is not sufficient to fit them to compete in the struggle 
for existence with their more fortunate brothers and sisters. 

For instance, take the District of Columbia. A child here has the 
opportunity of entering, first, a kindergarten. It is there for two 
3 T ears or more. Then it enters the primary department. It is there 
for from three to four years. Then it enters the intermediate depart- 
ment, and is there for a certain number of years. Then it has the four- 
year course in high school, at the public expense. After that, if it 
wishes to become a teacher, it has the advantage of the normal school 
for two years; or if it wishes to follow a business career, it has the 
advantage of a business high school for two years. 

All the education the blind children get would not cover a period of 
more than' from eight to ten years; so you see that from the stand- 
point of justice they are not cared for as the seeing children are. We 
feel that the education they are receiving in the several institutions 
throughout the State is inadequate. 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 5 

The blind people are anxious to maintain themselves. The} 7 want to cut 
loose from their parents and friends; in fact, they want to become 
independent. They want to be educated so that they can have a fair 
chance in the world with their seeing brothers and sisters. The United 
States has made provision for the mutes to the extent of from forty to 
sixty thousand dollars a year, and the blind people feel that they have 
just as much claim on the United States as the mutes have. 

Then the State agricultural schools are receiving aid from the* 
United States, as well as Indians, the colored people, etc. ; so that we 
feel that we come with a just claim asking that the United States do 
something in this direction. 

We have asked in this bill that a commission be appointed. Senator 
Clapp, Senator Gibson, and myself have just been talking about that 
matter. This bill provides that three commissioners shall be appointed. 
We went over the ground pretty thoroughly. We felt that if a com- 
mission of three men were appointed to take charge of the education 
of the blind and give them an opportunity to be educated in their 
own States, or in other States if they wished to be, the influence exerted 
would be centralized, and those men would become intensely interested 
in their w T ork. Consequent^ it would be done more thoroughly than 
it would if commissions were appointed in different States. 

Of course that is a question for you to discuss and dgcide for your- 
selves. As I said to Senator Clapp, I would not argue against it, 
because I do not want to defeat the bill. What we want is the bread; 
that is, we want the appropriation, so that these blind people can be 
educated. 

I do not kirow that I have anything further to say; I do not think 
of anything. If you have any questions to ask, I will be glad to 
answer them so far as I am able. 

The Chairman. Chaplain, are you familiar with what has been done 
in any of the States in regard to this matter ? 

Dr. Couden. Yes, sir. 

The Chairman. Will you state it, so far as you know it? 

Dr. Couden. The States throughout the Union provide institutions 
for the education of the blind. The Perkins Institute for the Blind 
is an exception. That is a school kept up by legacies more than by 
an} 7 aid it receives from the different States, and it includes all the 
New England States. That is a very line school. 

The Chairman. Where is it located, Chaplain? 

Dr. Couden. It is located in South Boston. It is a very fine school. 

Senator Clapp. How far, approximately, does that school cany its 
students ? 

Dr. Couden. I should say, Senator, that it gives a student who is 
capable and does his work well about such an education as a young 
man would get in a high school. I think that is about as far as any 
of the State institutions carry their pupils, and many of them do not 
carry them that far. 

Take a child and let him enter one of these State institutions, say at 
seven or eight years of age. In the State of Ohio the law is that they 
may have seven years in that institution, although I think that has 
been somewhat modified lately. Now, I lost my sight in the Army at 
the age of 20. I entered the Ohio Institution for the Blind on the 
18th day of October. The 21st of the following November I was 21 
years of age. If I had not entered just w r hen I did, or before I had 



6 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 

reached the age of majority, I could have had only one 3 T ear there; but 
as it was, under the law I had seven years, so 1 took the full course. 

A child entering there would then have seven years, and sometimes 
they extend to, say, ten years. You can see that that is entirely inade- 
quate. As I have just stated, in the District of Columbia the public 
furnishes education for about sixteen years, I think, to its seeing 
children. 

? Senator Clapp. Do you happen to know whether all the States have 
blind schools? 

Dr. Couden. I think all of them have, but I would not say definitely 
on that score.. Do you remember, Miss Giffin? 

Miss Giffin. There are 44 of them. 

Dr. Couden. There are 44? 

Miss Giffin. Yes. A few of the States, such as Pennsylvania, have 
two; but Delaware and New Jersey send their pupils to the school in 
Philadelphia. There are sometimes combinations in that way. All of 
the New England States send their pupils to the Boston school. 

Dr. Couden. Yes. Then New York has two, also. 

Miss Giffin. Yes. 

Dr. Couden. But I think all of the States have provided in some 
way for the education of their blind children. 

Senator Clapp. This appropriation is wholly inadequate. 

Dr. Couden. Yes; it is. 

Senator Clapp. It would leave $1,666 to each State, and that, count- 
ing $300 for a year's expense of a pupil, would only allow three to a 
State. 

Senator Gibson. Yes; it would be entirely too small. 

Senator Clapp. And that would leave nothing for the expenses of 
the commission. 

Dr. Couden. But, you see, we were afraid to ask for too much. 

Senator Clapp. 1 would certainly ask for enough, and insist on it. 

Miss Giffin. May I say something? Many of the schools for the 
blind are simply departments in schools for the deaf; and most of the 
attention is paid to the schools for the deaf. I do not know whether 
Chaplain Couden would like to say that, but I feel • 

Senator Gibson. That is the way it is in our State. 

Dr. Couden. They ought to be separated in every State; and when 
you go home, Senator, I wish you. would make an effort to separate 
those schools. 

Miss Giffin. Oh, it is needed. The whole interest is paid to the 
deaf, as so much agitation has been given to the question of the deaf, 
and they feel that they can accomplish more. 

Senator Clapp. They out to be separated, in any event. 

Dr. Couden. Yes; they ought to be separated. 

Senator Clapp. Putting unfortunates in a class is a mistake. 

Dr. Couden. They were formerly that way in the State of Michi- 
gan, but they have been separated there. 

Miss Giffin. On that account they do not have as much attention 
as they would if there were separate schools. There would be more 
interest. That was one of the reasons the commission was planned. 

The Chairman. Chaplain, what is the state of this bill in the House? 
There was a favorable report there, I believe. 

Dr. Couden. Yes; it has been favorably reported, 1 believe. I have 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 7 

read the report, and it is quite full and rather complete. If you have 
time, I would like to have you read it. 

The Chairman. We have the report here. 

Senator Clapp. In any event, I would move to amend by making it 
at least twice that amount for a starter. 

Di\' Couden. We would be very much obliged to you, Senator, if 
you could do it. 

Senator Clapp. I believe we can get $150,000 just as easily as we 
can get 175,000. Why, it is a mere bagatelle. 

There is just this about it: For one I am heartily in favor not only 
of this appropriation, but of putting it where it amounts to something; 
but there are two matters I want to suggest. In the first place, is it 
not better to apportion this among the States? Secondly, which plan 
would-be most likely to prevail in Congress? 

I would not want to press any personal opinion here to the detri- 
ment of the general plan. If it were thought that this would be more 
likely to prevail, I would gladly acquiesce in it, What do you think 
of it. Air. Chairman- 

The Chairman. Restate that question, please. 

Senator Clapp. I think there is a growing sentiment with this com- 
mittee that these Federal commissions are a mistake; that what is done 
for the State by Federal appropriations should be sent to the States, 
and administered by those in immediate contact with the object of the 
appropriation. The first thought in nry mind is whether it would not 
be better, instead of creating a commission, to make an appropriation, 
provide for an equitable distribution of it, and dedicate it to the free 
education of as many blind as it would cover in each State, to be selected 
by the joint action of the management of the blind institution and the 
higher institution, which would be the State University. 

If this bill has been recommended in the House, it may be that it 
would be detrimental to the general purpose to change the plan, and 
we should consider that, even though we might favor the change. 

The Chairman. It has been favorably reported in the House, on 
January 23, 1901. 

Dr. Couden. I wish to call your attention to one fact in regard to 
this commission. You will notice that it provides that at least one of 
that commission shall be a blind man. 

Senator Clapp. Yes; I know that. 

Dr. Couden. We put in that provision because we believed that 
blind people understand blind people a little better than seeing people 
do, and we thought that if that clause were maintained, if you put a 
blind man on this commission he is going to put his whole soul into 
the work, because he feels it. That was our reason in doing it. 

If you take this to the States, I doubt whether it would come to the 
blind people of the different States in such a way that they could use 
their influence. 

Senator Clapp. Chaplain, is there not a danger that under this com- 
mission system, the commission being located here, the people in the 
remote States will not get their share of the advantages this bill gives 
as compared with those who are in the immediate vicinity. 

Senator Gibson. May I ask right here. Senator, where, under this 
bill, these blind people are to be educated i 

The Chairman. Wherever the commission sees fit to locate them, 



8 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 

having in view the capacity of the institution to afford them an edu- 
cation. 

Senator Gibson. 1 have not read the bill. 

Dr. Couden. I do not think that would be the case, Senator, because 
this commission would make it a point to come in touch, as I have said, 
with all the educators of the blind throughout the different States, and 
they would be just as much interested in the Pacific coast, for instance, 
as they would be in the Eastern States. Indeed, if I were one of the 
commission I should be more interested, because I believe the Eastern 
people have advanced further along these lines than some of the 
Western people in just that particular. 

The Chairman. Chaplain, in the fourth section there is a suggestion 
as to the work of this commission — that the}' shall have charge of the 
education of all blind residents of the District of Columbia and the 
Territories. 

Dr. Couden. Yes. 

The Chairman. And that they shall afford to all such blind persons 
of suitable age and physical and mental condition for receiving instruc- 
tion, a good common-school education. 

Dr. Couden. I believe that is cut out. The Territories are cut out 
in the bill as presented to the House, are they not? 

The Chairman. I do not think so. 

Dr. Couden. I think they are; but we put that in because we want 
to include the people in the Territories just as much as the people in 
the States. 

Senator Clapp. That is partially covered here, in the tenth line. 

The Chairman. I am coming to that presently. 

And to such of said persons as shall manifest a capacity for higher education a 
complete course of college or university education, including music, law, medicine, 
and such other branches of learning as shall, in the opinion of the. commission, 
serve to fit such students to pursue any remunerative calling or profession. All the 
expenses of affording the education herein provided for, including tuition fees, sup- 
port of students, etc. , shall be defrayed out of the moneys appropriated for the use 
of this commission. 

That means in all the common schools, in every branch of collegiate, 
academic, and university education, and in special schools for profes- 
sional training. 

Dr. Couden. It does not mean the common schools, does it, Mr. 
Chairman \ 

The Chairman. It says here common schools also. It is also pro- 
vided that — 

Blind persons residing in the several States shall be afforded the same advantages 
of acquiring a higher education by this commission as are herein provided for resi- 
dents of the District. 

Dr. Couden. Oh. I see that point now. That has reference to the 
children of the District of Columbia and the children of the different 
Territories who are not provided with educational institutions. That 
is especially for them. 

The Chairman. In the first place I think we had better make up our 
minds that to the States will be left the education of the State pupils. 
If you are going to provide a school here for the Territories of the 
United States (a matter within the particular province of the Federal 
Government), how are you going to provide that they shall have all 
these varieties of schools for educating the blind in all these different 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 9 

directions? I have much sympathy with it, but I want to know how 
you propose to have that done. 

Dr. Couden. I do not see how that could be done, except in this 
way — that in Territories where schools are not already provided we 
could urge that the Territories themselves provide the schools. Then 
this Commission would take hold of those pupils when they got through 
those schools and give them the higher education. That is the general 
thought of the bill, I think. 

The Chairman. That would mean that in every university or every 
college where it was thought well to put them there should be a sepa- 
rate institution for this purpose, would it? 

Dr. Couden. No; no. We do not care to have a separate institu- 
tion. We want to send these young men and young women who are 
capable of receiving education to the colleges — to any college, an}' 
seeing college. 

Miss Giffin. Many of them take the course in college at present. 
Those who are well enough off, whose parents can send them, have 
been through the regular colleges with seeing pupils. That can be 
done easily. 

Senator Clapp. This does not contemplate making it a department 
at all. 

The Chairman. How can they receive that training — by oral in- 
struction? 

Dr. Couden. I took my course in that way. I simply paid a man 
to read my lessons to me; and he said he never would have gotten 
through college if he had not read to me. 

Miss Giffin. Then the examinations can be typewritten. I have 
samples of the work here. Everything of that kind can be very 
cleverly done, } 7 ou know. 

Senator Gibson. If I understand the scope of this bill, $75,000 would 
not accomplish much along this line. 

Dr. Couden. No; it would not do much, but it would be a starter. 
That is the point. 

The Chairman. You do not want us to take awav the good work of 
the States? 

Dr. Couden. Oh, no; not at all — not at all. This is only adding to 
that work. It is only doing what the States are not doing for their 
children. That is the point. 

Senator Clapp. This does not interfere at all with the States % 

Dr. Couden. Oh, no. 

Senator Clapp. For instance, take the State of Iowa. This bill con- 
templates that this commission can take the pupils of the Blind Insti- 
tute in Iowa and defray their expenses in the pursuit of a higher 
education, for instance, in the University of Iowa. The only question 
in nry mind would be whether a commission located here should con- 
trol and direct and stimulate this work, or whether we should give an 
appropriation to the States to defray the expense of the higher educa- 
tion of the blind. 

The Chairman. That is a very important consideration. 

Senator Gibson. I am afraid you would lose sight of the appropria- 
tions you would make in the State. I am free to say that I believe a 
board of regents, a commission of three, whose special duty it is to 
look after, this matter, would soon be very much better able to handle 
it than the various States. 



10 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND ETC. 

Senator Clapp. I have no private opinion on that point, and cer- 
tainly would not want to imperil the measure by insisting- on it if I 
had/ 

Senator Gibson. I think if the work was well done it would lead up 
to larger appropriations in the future. 

Senator Clapp. I am ready to report this bill favorably. I think. 
Air. Chairman, the distinction is made very plainly, that as to the Dis- 
trict of Columbia and the Territories they may afford primary educa- 
tion. Then as to the States, some advantages of a higher education 
should be afforded. How would you feel about reporting this bill. 
Senator I 

Senator Gibsox. I would be in favor of reporting it. 

The Chairman. This bill, gentlemen, trenches upon the functions of 
the States. I am thoroughly in sympathy with the education of the 
blind, and want to do all I can in reason to advance it. 

Senator Clapp. I do not see. Mr. Chairman, how it trenches upon 
them. 

The Chairman. I mean this: You are making an appropriation out 
of the Federal Treasury for the education of citizens of the States. 

Senator Clapp. Certainly. 

Dr. Coudex. You are doing that already. Mr. Chairman. 

The Chairman. In the case of the Howard University I think you 
will tind that it is really a local school. 

Senator Clapp. There is no trespass upon Iowa, for instance, if the 
Federal Government takes 20 pupil- from an institution there and 
educates them at Harvard or anywhere else. We are not trenching 
upon them. 

The Chairman. No: I do not mean trenching, but I mean you are 
going beyond the constitutional power to appropriate money from the 
Federal Treasury for citizens of the States. 

Dr. Cout>ex. But you do that for the deaf and dumb. You give 
them from forty to sixty thousand dollars a year right here. That is 
for the citizens of the various States. 

The Chairman. We can do that here. 

Dr. Coudex. I do not see where the difference lies. 

Miss Giffix. They come from the different schools of the States. 
They have a common-school education: then they come here for the 
higher education from all the States. 

The Chairmax. I mean it is quite practicable to have a higher edu- 
cation for the blind here. Then Congress can admit to the school of 
the Federal Government whoever it pleases. 

Dr. Coudex. We do not want that. We do not want to herd the 
blind together in that way. We think it will be far better to educate 
them among seeing people. I do not see what difference there is 
between giving them an opportunity of attending a college at some 
other place, and having a college here for them to attend. You see. 
this bill simply provides scholarships for them and permits them to go 
to any college the commission might see tit to send them to. or that 
they might prefer to attend. 

It may seem strange to you who have not studied the question, that 
mention is made here of educating the blind as physicians and as lawyers. 
There are quite a number of blind people who have become successful 
lawyers, and we have several very successful physicians who have 
taken up their profession along certain lines. For instance, in pul- 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 11 

monary diseases they are considered very expert, and are very 
efficient. We have one man in Chicago who is consulted every day 
for his efficiency along the lines of pulmonary diseases. 

The Chairman. Because of very acute hearing and accurate ausculta- 
tion, 1 suppose \ 

Div.Couden. Yes, and touch: and they can take up their profession 
along the line of heart diseases. Indeed, we had one very successful 
surgeon. 

The Chairman. A surgeon, you say? 

Dr. Couden. Yes, sir. 

Miss Giffin. This would lit them for a career in life. 

Dr. Couden. Yes. 

Miss Giffin. That is the idea. It would fit them for a profession 
where they could earn their own living and be independent. If it 
were a college, such as you speak of over here, they would receive 
simply the ordinary college education. Then they would have to go 
somewhere else for special training along business lines. The object 
of the commission, 1 think, was to enable them to become proficient. 

Dr. Couden. That is part of it. 

Miss Giffin. Yes, part of it; I do not mean all, of course. 

The Chairman. Have you further matters to suggest? 

Dr. Couden. I think that is all I have to say. 

The Chairman. Then let us hear Miss Giffin. 

STATEMENT OF MISS ETTA J. GIFFIN, IN CHARGE OF THE 
READING ROOM FOR THE BLIND, LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

Miss Giffin. I have felt particularly interested in this higher edu- 
cation because it would enable the blind to become self-supporting, 
and by placing them in colleges among seeing people they feel that it 
would give them an entirely different atmosphere. They would not 
have to be all associated together, and it would lead to their becoming 
self-dependent, and thus promote their energies. 

Most of the schools are taking blind pupils through the eighth grade 
and no further. I believe Iowa has a college; and the Perkins Insti- 
tute, of which Dr. Couden spoke, takes them higher. By adopting a 
plan of this kind a scholarship could be provided for at each school, 
and those who had won the distinction could then be sent. There 
would probably be about a hundred who would be benefited by this 
legislation; perhaps not more than that. 

At some of the schools the number of blind people is very small. 
In Florida there are twelve children in the blind department. Of 
course in many of the States where the district is more thickly popu- 
lated they have many more. For instance, at the Pennsylvania Insti- 
tution for the Blind, located at Overbrook, they have something like 
300 pupils, or perhaps more. That is because they have pupils from 
part of Pennsylvania and from Delaware and .New Jersey. Then 
there is another school at Pittsburg. 

Many of the State schools, as I have said, are only departments in a 
school for the deaf. So that there is not the interest, there is not the 
enthusiasm, that would otherwise exist. In those schools they are 
given, as I say. just the common-school education. I believe the 
reason they thought of this plan for the commission was that they 



12 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 

might attend classes where they could receive diplomas just like seeing 
persons, and would be given the same distinction. 

Many of the blind are very musical, and are very thorough music 
teachers. In that line, of course, they could get the best education, 
and would be more apt to have pupils if they could go to some stand- 
ard school — such, for instance, as the Conservator} 7 of Music in Boston. 
Dr. Couden has spoken of the other professions, too. The lawyer 
dictates all his work and uses a telephone. The blind man can do all 
of those things equally well. There are many very able lawyers. 
Moreover, the doctor has spoken of physicians in special cases. There 
would be so many professions. open to them if they could have the 
advantages the seeing people have, and take the same same diplomas. 
It would put them on the correct basis. 

Dr. Couden. Excuse me a moment; but did you know, gentlemen, 
that America's cup has been kept in this country for the last three 
years b} 7 yachts designed by a blind man? 

The Chairman. You refer to Mr. John B. Herreshoff? 

Dr. Couden. Yes. 

The Chairman. Yes. It is wonderful. 

Dr. Couden. So the profession of architecture would be open to 
blind people. 

Senator Clapp. Oh, I think that on the general question of the 
desirability 

The Chairman. Every one has the desire to do it. The point is 
what jou. can do and what is practical. 

Senator Clapp. I can not see any constitutional objection to creat- 
ing scholarships in that wa} 7 . That is practically what it amounts to. 
If we can vote money to the people in Martinique, we can vote it to 
the people in Iowa. 

Dr. Couden. That is so. 

Senator Clapp. I held back my Cuban bill until the Martinique bill 
passed, so as to have a precedent. 

The Chairman. The Martinique appropriation was plainly uncon- 
stitutional. 

Senator Clapp. It probably was, because it was not for Americans, 
but it does not seem to me that this would be unconstitutional. Of 
course I would hesitate to combat your opinion on that point. 

The Chairman. You need not. 

Senator Clapp. I would hesitate to do so, nevertheless. 

The Chairman. I see that in this report of Mr. Boutell, of Illinois, 
in the House he does not appear to discuss the power of the Govern- 
ment to take this action. 

Dr. Couden. That question came up in the committee, and there 
were several who were very much opposed to it on constitutional 
grounds, but the objections were overcome. 

Senator Clapp. That is discussed a little in this report: 

We will call attention to that clause of the Constitution which authorizes Congress 
to appropriate money for the common defense and general welfare. 

The Chairman. Of course the general-welfare clause is the only 
clause under which it could be done. Who discusses that? 
Senator Clapp. This is in the report of Mr. Terrell. 
The Chairman. In which Congress? 

Senator Clapp. The first session of the Fifty-seventh Congress. 
Dr. Couden. Yes; he is a new member, and was opposed to this 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 13 

legislation on constitutional grounds; but I think he has changed his 
views. 

The Chairman. The General Government does appropriate the public 
lands, which would be a source for obtaining public money, to the 
States in aid* of education. That system is pursued in respect of all 
the new States, to equalize them with the old States. 

Here is a proposition to make a commission of three men, and to let 
them nominate men to be students in as many as the} 7 like of educa- 
tional institutions of the country, their tuition and maintenance to be 
paid out of the Federal Treasury. A blind child is helpless. It can 
not earn a livelihood as a child, or even as a youth, like a person who 
sees. I do not know just now, Senator Clapp, of an} T case in which 
the board of children in the States is paid out of the Federal Treasury. 

Senator Clapp. Not directly; but after making the land grant of 
1892 the Government followed it up by a cash endowment to the land- 
grant colleges. Of course that was a grant of the proceeds of public 
land. It does not make any difference where it comes from, however. 

The Chairman. Oh, no; it is Government revenue. 

Senator Clapp. It is Government revenue. That does not go, per- 
haps, to pay board; but it goes to lessen the cost of tuition. Whether 
it goes to pa} T a pupil's board at a college or to pay a professor for 
teaching, so that the pupil does not have to pay tuition, is immaterial. 
The moment it goes to the college in the State it presumably goes to 
lessen the cost of education to the people of that State, either in the 
way of general taxation or to those who go to college for education. 

Of course this bill might be drafted so as to emphasize the fact that 
these were scholarships, although that would be merely beating the 
devil around the stump. 

Miss Giffin. At the Gallaudet College, which is a boarding school, 
the tuition and board are paid. 

The Chairman. There is an annual appropriation in the sundry civil 
bill for the tuition of so many pupils at the Gallaudet school. That 
school itself is supported b} 7 fees, is it not? 

Dr. Couden. No, sir; it is supported by the Government. 

The Chairman. The Government makes a large appropriation for 
it yearly; but it is not entirely the Government funds that keep it up, 
is it? 

Miss Giffin. I think so. 

The Chairman. The} r receive there, under regulations, students of 
the various States. That, however, is a school in a Territory of the 
United States, endowed and supported by the Federal Government in 
the Federal District, admitting people from the States. Now, you do 
not want that. 

Dr. Couden. No; we do not want that, because, as I have said, we 
do not want to herd blind people together. We do not want to make 
classes out of them. We want them to come in contact with seeing 
people, and take the knocks they have to take there and thus become 
independent. 

Miss Giffin. I want them to have the same diplomas that the seeing 
people have. You never would have the same feeling about a diploma 
which was given by a school for the blind that you would have for a 
diploma from the standard colleges or conservatories. 

Dr. Couden. No. 

The Chairman. As Senator Clapp has said, there is a great preju- 



14 EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 

dice against making new commissions; and here is a new commission 
not supervised by the Bureau of Education or under the control of the 
Secretary of the Interior. 

Senator Clapp. Except that they report to the Secretary. 

The Chairman. But they have absolute control over the expendi- 
ture of the money, and the discretion in spending the money. By 
the way, who prepared this bill ? 

Dr. Couden. It was prepared by a gentleman in Chicago, a Mr. 
Nolan (who is a blind gentleman and a lawver), with the assistance of 
Mr. Boutell. 

You will understand that the blind people have meetings all over the 
United States. The} T have annual meetings, I think, where they dis- 
cuss these educational matters. Undoubtedly this bill has grown out 
of a great many discussions of the educators of the blind, like those 
who have charge of the different State institutions, and the blind peo- 
ple themselves. 

Senator Clapp. It seems to me, Mr. Chairman, that this bill does 
not involve a very large expenditure, and we can try it. If it does 
not prove a success we can then make an effort to revive the matter 
among the States. I am not in favor of putting everything under 
these secretaries, anyway. I think you get better service if you dis- 
tribute the responsibility. 

The Chairman. There are now about sixty thousand blind persons 
in the United States ? 

Miss Giffin. Yes. 

The Chairman. And there are about four thousand who are attend- 
ing different kinds of schools ? 

Dr. Couden. About one hundred would be benefited, 1 believe, bv 
this bill. 

Senator Clapp. You could not expect it to benefit much over a 
hundred. 

The Chairman. Two hundred are annually graduated, I see, from 
the State schools. 

Dr. Couden. Yes; but probably out of that two hundred there 
would not be over a hundred that would get the benefit of this educa- 
tion. 

The Chairman. Do you not think it would be well to authorize the 
commission to select, say, two of the most proficient from each State, 
without regard to sex or color i 

Miss Giffin. The objection to that is that some of the States have 
so few people, and probably would not have any, while some of the 
other States would have so many pupils that they would have a greater 
number. I think you could not limit it in that way. 

Dr. Couden. Yes. For instance, Florida has only twelve or fifteen 
pupils in its State institution, while Ohio has over three hundred. 
For the last thirty -five or forty years Ohio has been graduating its 
pupils in classes right along. It has a graded school. Probably it 
graduates twelve or fifteen every year. 

Senator Clapp. Would it not be better to leave those details to a 
commission 2 

Dr. Couden. Yes. 

Senator Clapp. They would have to adopt some plan. 

The Chairman. Perhaps so. You have had no inquiry made of the 



EDUCATION OF THE BLIND, ETC. 15 

Department of the Interior or the Bureau of Education on this .sub- 
ject, have you. Chaplain? 

Dr. Couden. No, sir. 

The Chairman. I think. Senator, we had better see if they can give 
us information in respect to this bill. 

Senator Clapp. What information can they give us? 

The Chairman. That is what I would want to find out. 

Senator Clapp. We know about as much about the blind and their 
needs, the advantages of separating- them, the possible benefits of 
higher education for them, and so on, as the head of any department 
down here. 

The Chairman. I mean to say they already have statistics. A bill 
of this kind will excite a great deal of opposition on the floor, Senator. 
It will be very much criticised. If we do not inquire of the depart- 
ments especially in charge of education on this subject we would be 
held not to have exhausted the inquiry on this subject. Often we 
apply and get nothing; but if we have not applied it will be assumed 
that all we ought to have known is there, to be had for the asking. 

Senator Clapp. I would not expect the Department of Education — 
I know nothing of the personnel of that department — to particularly 
favor a measure creating a commission that would be absolutely inde- 
pendent of them. 

The Chairman. Oh, no; I should not think so; but it might be well 
to get their views. Do you not think so? It is ordinarily our duty to 
get those things. 

Dr. Couden. If you will excuse me, it is quarter of 12, and I must 
leave. 

The Chairman. We are very glad to have had the opportunity of 
hearing you, Chaplain. This is a most interesting matter. 1 have 
the most kindly feeling toward the blind, and I wanted to see the scope 
of this bill and its practical working. It seems to me to be a little 
indefinite. 

Dr.' Couden. I think if you will look it over you will find that it is 
pretty definite as it stands. If those commissioners were selected 
judiciously you would find that they would make great headway with 
their opportunities. 

I am very much obliged to you, gentlemen, for your patience. 

The Chairman. We are very glad, indeed, to have heard you, 
Chaplain. 

Dr. Couden. I hope you will consider the bill favorably. 

The Chairman. There is nothing more worthy of our care and 
favorable consideration. 

The committee thereupon adjourned. 

O 



